by James Tate
“Are you ready to order?” The waiter made his appearance, looking nervous as he stared at Jasper. The pen was shaking slightly in his hand.
“Yep,” Jasper said, confident as always. He rattled off his order, and Eddy followed, and I just picked the first burger and fries that looked appealing.
The guys hurried off then, and I snorted. “You four do not deserve your reputation.”
Jasper looked affronted. “You take that back! We worked fucking hard for our reputation.”
Eddy laughed out loud, and I joined her, because Jasper was only partly kidding. The Delta successors loved their power and privilege. If only all the bad shit didn’t go with it.
Jasper leaned back in his chair, arms spread out on either side of him. “Everything will be okay now. Riles will come back into the fold, the bullshit at school will stop, and we’ll make sure Katelyn Huntley gets the fuck out of our territory.”
“Nope,” I said stubbornly, crossing my arms. “Riley will not be coming back into any fold. None. End of story.”
Jasper and Eddy exchanged a glance before they leaned in closer to me. “Riles, do you understand what you’re saying?” Eddy started softly. “Today was only the beginning. It will get worse. They’re animals at that school, and now they have a new zoo keeper to stir them up.”
Jasper nodded, for once serious. “Katelyn is bad news. She’s definitely causing trouble behind the scenes, and I can’t protect you at school. What happened today … that’s a one off, unless you crawl back to us. I have to keep a united front there…” His eyes went really wide. “Even though you know I’m on your side here.”
I clenched my fists together, anger, my old friend, giving me the strength to say, “I will never crawl back, not even to keep myself safe at school. I know this is some sort of bullshit scheme to make me reliant on you. To throw me back into your world. I won’t do it, Jasper. You and I are okay now, and I don’t expect you to weaken Delta anymore to hang out with me in school, but don’t ask me to be part of you again. I won’t.”
He opened his mouth to argue more; I could already see the stubborn light in his eyes, but our food arrived before he spoke, and I grabbed at the distraction. For the rest of the afternoon we talked about my new apartment, and things happening at school, but Beck and Delta were not mentioned again. I think Eddy and Jasper both knew I would ditch both of their asses if they continued to push me. I had so little power left to me—they controlled and owned and dictated so much of my life—that I was holding on to my small independence.
As we were getting up to leave, my phone buzzed again, and I pulled it out to find an incoming call from Stewart.
“Hello,” I said when I answered.
“Miss Riley, your apartment is all ready to go. I’ve had your clothes and personal belongings transferred, and your keys are waiting at the front desk. Along with a credit card from Mr. Deboise. He advised me that Catherine can still see everything you purchase, but that you are free to use it for food and any other extras you need to make your apartment a home.”
I smiled. “That was nice of him. Could you please thank him?”
“Of course,” Stewart said. “I’ll text you his number as well, just in case of emergencies.”
The thought of old Stew texting was a humorous one, but I was so glad I’d befriended him.
Eddy and Jasper stared as I got off the phone, and I smiled. “My apartment’s ready!”
“I’ll drop you off and check it out,” Jasper said, keys in his hand. “Make sure everything is safe before I leave you for the night.”
Not one to turn down a free ride, I didn’t argue. After we arrived, Eddy raved about my apartment before she wistfully stared out the window. “Do you think Dad would let me move out?” she asked. “I’d like some space from Delta too, if I’m being perfectly honest.”
Jasper snorted derisively, having just done a walk through, checking out the bedroom, bathroom, and living area thoroughly. It was not a huge apartment, but I didn’t need anything bigger. “You’d have a better chance of winning the lotto that you never buy tickets in,” Jasper told her.
Eddy pouted, but she got to her feet and followed her brother to the front door.
“Call us if anything happens,” Jasper warned me. “Remember, you’re out of the compound, and you’ll be vulnerable here.”
“Are you going to tell Beck?” I asked, remembering Eddy’s warning about Beck losing his shit.
Jasper shook his head. “No, I’m staying out of this as much as I can, but he’s no doubt already heard. He’s the oldest heir, and you already know that gives him more power than the rest of us.”
That would explain the dozens of text messages I’d been silencing from him all night.
Eddy and Jasper left me with a hug, and I made sure to lock and bolt my door before sliding a chair over to prop under the handle. It wouldn’t stop someone that really wanted to get in, but I’d have a little more notice.
Standing in the middle of my new apartment, in a living area with couches I didn’t choose, in clothes that were only half mine, I wondered how the fuck my life could just keep getting weirder.
9
Stewart hadn’t lied about my clothing being unpacked, but since this place had a much smaller closet, a lot of it was still in boxes. But they’d gotten out all of my uniforms, my underwear and pajamas, and basic jeans and shirts, so I had everything I needed for now. After a shower, I crawled into bed before plugging my phone into the charger next to me.
It flashed its stupid light over and over, and I reached out before dropping it again. No. Fuck. I could not let him draw me in like that. I should have just deleted all of his messages, but I apparently loved to torture myself, and instead just silenced Beck.
If only I could silence him from my brain just as easily. Closing my eyes, I tried to force myself to sleep, but all I got was flashing images in my head. Blood spatter. Death. This was the first night I’d slept alone since it happened. Fuck, it was one of the few nights I’d slept alone in weeks.
Before the betrayal, I’d had Beck keeping my nightmares at bay. I had new nightmares now, and Dante had done an okay job of holding me together, but now I had no choice but to face them.
So much darkness, it felt like it had seeped into my blood and was tainting it. Turning me slowly from someone I used to know into a Riley that I barely recognized.
“Argh!” I screamed, bashing my hands on either side of me into the soft bed. Over and over I slammed my hands down, my throat aching as I tried not to scream again. Last thing I needed was the police being called my first night in my new place.
But fuck. How was any of this fair?
Pulling myself up to sit, I tried to take deeper breaths, counting as I inhaled and then exhaled, attempting to calm my brain and pulse.
The light blinked at me again, and I was too weak to resist him any longer. Settling back against my pillows, my hands trembled as I slid my thumb across my phone.
Beck: Riles, baby, are you okay? Where the fuck did you go?
My heart started to pitter patter in a frantic beat inside my chest. He hadn’t called me baby much, and every time it got me. Even when I was so angry at him.
Message two had a little more attitude about it.
Beck: Stop fighting me…
Then the third.
Beck: Betrayal is part of our life. You have to learn to live with the hits, and get back up. We’re on the same side, Riley. You and I are on the same fucking side. Always.
Anger cut through my heartache, and I wanted to smash my phone into the wall. It wasn’t its fault Beck was an arrogant asshole though. Betrayal is part of life. Not my fucking life, dude.
Beck: I won’t give up, Riley Jameson. I will fucking find you, and when I do, I’m going to smack that perfect ass of yours until you scream my name.
Jesus. My body was apparently not as angry at Beck as the rest of me, because it was turned on and ready to run right into Beck’s arms.
I had no idea why that was so ominous, but Beck still scared me, deep deep down where I’d never admit it to anyone but myself.
For some reason, after I allowed myself to read his messages, I could finally drift off into a restless, nightmare filled sleep. Apparently, I was going to relive my first murder forever, each night as I closed my eyes.
The next morning I dressed for school slowly, not at all enthusiastic about going back. But I had no choice. My deal with Catherine required me to keep up appearances and not let my grades fall. Of course, I’d skipped out on half my classes yesterday and missed a detention, so no doubt it was going to be a shit show today when I got there.
Eddy picked me up, and she ran her gaze over me when I hopped in. “What?” I said, wondering about her curious stare.
“Just checking you survived the night in one piece.” She spun her wheels as she took off along my new street, heading toward Ducis.
“Tired but alive,” I said, dropping my head back on the headrest.
She shot me a side-eye. “No Beck?”
I shook my head, and her forehead crinkled. “I thought for sure he’d have smashed your door down the moment he found out you didn’t live in the compound.”
I sat a little straighter. “He actually didn’t mention it in his text messages. Maybe he doesn’t know.”
I realized then I’d all but admitted to reading his messages, but Eddy thankfully didn’t push me on it. Driving faster than was legally allowed got us to school early-ish for a change. When Eddy pulled up in a spot near the front door, the Delta spots were empty, none of the guys here yet, which was the best news I’d gotten all day.
“I probably need to head into the office,” I said with a sigh, opening my door. “I skipped out on classes and a detention yesterday.”
Eddy shrugged. “Nah, I told Jasper and he got it all taken care of. There are some things they can still deal with, even if you’re iced in public.”
I shot her a glare, and she held both hands up. “I’m not saying the guys don’t deserve it. I’ve been around the five … four of them long enough to know that they can be the worst kind of assholes. I just…” she cut off for a beat. “Just don’t get yourself killed over stubborn pride, you know. Sometimes the enemy you know is better than the one you don’t.”
She got out then, and I followed a moment later, her words running through my head. Was I just being a prideful dick about this? I mean, I’d never been a fan of the whole cutting your nose off to spite your face thing, but this had been a real betrayal. Crawling back to them for my own safety was exactly what they wanted from me, and I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Not after what they did.
Eddy left me near the front entrance, and I headed toward my first class. It was at the end of this building, and thankfully the hall was almost empty, so I didn’t even have to deal with the dirty looks and coughwhorecough situations. Just when I was almost at my room, the door swung open on a supply closet next to the science lab, and a strong hand wrapped around mine, yanking me inside.
I choked back a scream as I was plastered against a rock hard body, familiar heat and scent wrapping around me as my head spun.
“Riley,” Beck growled softly, his chest heaving as he held me prisoner.
I swallowed hard. “Your car…”
His car hadn’t been here. Fuck. I’d been led into a false sense of security.
Beck’s eyes were the stormiest gray, boring down into me as he held me, not allowing an inch of space between us. “How did you get to school this morning?” he asked softly.
I tilted my chin up, meeting his gaze unflinchingly—on the outside anyway. Inside I was a quivering mess of emotions. “How did you get to school this morning?” I countered. “Your car wasn’t in the lot.”
The corners of his mouth lifted in a small, smug smile. “You were looking for me.”
“No, I—” Damn him. I had been, but only so I didn’t have to run into him. Not that his arrogant ass would believe any excuses I made, so I just folded my arms over my chest and took a step back so we weren’t so intimately positioned. “What do you want, Beck?”
His smile slipped, and he traced a rough thumb down my face. I flinched away from his touch, and his eyes hardened. “You ignored my messages last night.”
It wasn’t phrased as a question, so I said nothing, just let my flat glare speak for itself.
Beck’s eyes narrowed, and he let out a frustrated sigh. “You can’t just ignore me forever, Riley. I’m still the leader of our team, whether you like it or not.”
“Not,” I snapped, channeling my best petulant child routine. “Is that all you dragged me in here to say? That you’re top dog and I better roll over like a good little bitch before you punish me?”
His hands clasped my waist—tightly—and he pulled me back closer to him. “You probably don’t want to start me on punishments while we’re alone in a closet, Butterfly,” he practically purred into my ear. His warm breath teased at my neck, and I couldn’t fight the shiver of arousal that traveled through me. It was a purely physical response though, and my brain wasn’t falling for it.
“Take your hands off me, Beck,” I said, steel in my voice.
He leaned back just far enough to meet my gaze, and when he saw the conviction in my eyes he carefully lifted his hands from my waist. “You moved out of the Delta compound.” Again, not a question. “It’s not safe to do that, Riley. You need to move back.”
I barked a sharp, sarcastic laugh. “Not happening. Is that all? I don’t want to be late for class. No doubt there will be glue on my chair or some shit.”
His jaw tightened and a quick glance down told me his fists were clenched tightly at his sides. “This isn’t a fucking game, Riley. It’s bigger than us.”
“Us?” I curled my lip in a sneer. “Don’t pretend there is anything between us other than betrayal and lies. I’m not your fucking monkey, and I won’t dance to your tune. Unless the orders come from the actual Delta council, don’t bother me again.” Using my shoulder, I shoved him back just far enough that I could squeeze back out of the closet and into the slightly less than empty hallway. Great. Knowing my luck, there would be rumors about what I’d been doing with Beck in the closet circulating by the end of first period.
Fuck it. What did I care what a bunch of spoiled rich kids thought of me?
I’d only taken a couple of steps away from the closet when I heard it open and close again behind me, and a kid in a sports uniform gawped at me.
“Take a picture, it lasts longer,” I snapped at him, stalking down the hall to my class with my ridiculous high heels clicking on the marble floor.
By the time I took my assigned seat in my class, I was in a sour mood, something that wasn’t helped by the fact that someone had actually shortened one of the legs on my chair.
Not even joking.
They’d somehow managed to cut about half an inch from one of the chair legs so for the entire class I bobbled back and forth without being able to rest comfortably. I had to hand it to those snickering assholes ... they were creative.
Eddy was appropriately stunned when I told her about it at lunchtime. The chair thing, combined with the convenient drip right over my desk in the next period sort of made them evil geniuses. If I hadn’t been the target of their maliciousness, I might have been impressed.
“Girl, that’s like ... military level torture techniques,” Eddy muttered as we gathered our food and headed for our usual seat. Or what was our new usual seat, since I’d turned my back on the Delta boys. As we crossed the dining hall, Jasper gave me a small nod of support but the other three wore unreadable masks as they blankly stared past me.
“You know he cares about you, right?” Eddy blurted out as we sat down, then clapped a hand over her mouth like she couldn’t believe she’d said it out loud. “Sor
ry,” she squeaked from behind her hand. “It slipped out.”
I rolled my eyes and stabbed a piece of pasta on my plate. It was chicken, sundried tomato and pesto and was fast becoming one of my favorite lunches at Ducis. “I’m not discussing that douchecanoe and his flawless ability to manipulate everyone around him to achieve his own twisted end game. Sorry, but no.”
“Uh huh.” Eddy filled her own mouth up in a clear sign she didn’t particularly want to discuss it either. “So. What do you think Katelyn and her crew have planned for you this afternoon? Bit of hair pulling? Some rotten food in your locker? Maybe she’ll go full Carrie and dump pig’s blood on you!”
I grimaced and glanced in the direction of the shining blonde Huntley daughter. “Don’t give her suggestions,” I muttered to Eddy. “What do you think she’s here for anyway? Doesn’t it seem super suspicious that Huntley suddenly manages to enroll a student here? Like, doesn’t Delta own this freaking school?”
My friend just shrugged, tucking some short blonde hair behind her ear. “You know they don’t include me on company business. How would I know?”
I leveled a flat stare at her. “Uh, coz you’re way sneakier than you let on, and I don’t believe for a second you haven’t been listening at doors you weren’t supposed to.”
“Hmm,” she hummed, a wicked smile teasing her lips. “Still, I have no idea. I heard Dad ranting about it to Mom last week but it was along the lines of ‘how the hell did this happen’ rather than ‘these are all the answers Edith is hoping to hear,’ you know?”
“Yeah, that would have been awfully convenient,” I murmured. “Yet another mystery to unravel.”
“Hey.” Eddy tapped the table to get my attention back from my conspiracy theories. “More important topics. Are we having a house warming at your sweet new pad?”
She was beaming with excitement, and I couldn’t help laughing. “And invite who? Did you forget you’re my only friend, aside from Dante?”
